PITTSBURGH WRAPS 2026 DRAFT WITH FOUR MORE PICKS

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The first two picks by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft were ripped right out of the pages of a storybook. Twin brothers, Liam and Markus Ruck, taken 22nd and 39th overall.

But Pittsburgh had three other selections in Buffalo, New York this weekend. Another trade on Saturday earned them a fourth dart to throw, too.

Those four players are not to be overlooked, as GM Kyle Dubas and the Penguins were deliberate in adding fiery competitors to their prospect pool. Here are the final four 2026 draft picks made by Pittsburgh…

TOMÁŠ GALVAS (D) – 54TH OVERALL

Tomáš Galvas was draft eligible for the first time in 2024. Nobody took him.

He improved his game and was hopeful to hear his named called in 2025. It wasn’t.

After the way Galvas played against grown men in the Czech Extraliga and the IIHF World Championships, there was no chance he’d go undrafted again. And it’s the Penguins who finally make his dream come true.

Galvas deserves a ton of credit for the way he’s elevated his game over the last few years, but he’s always been a breathtaking skater. He has multi-directional tools, but the left-handed rearguard can really fly in open ice. He helps his team get up ice in a hurry by either snapping a quick, efficient first pass or by lugging the puck himself.

In today’s climate, a 5-foot-10 defenseman is seen as undersized. There are times where that size works against him in his own zone, but what evaluators have gradually grown to appreciate about Galvas over the past three seasons is his competitiveness. He never quits on a play, and he clearly wants to be a difference-maker for his team.

Galvas represented Czechia in each of the last three Word Juniors. He brought a medal back to his homeland in all three years, including a silver medal in this year’s entry.

Skating at the pro level for Bílí Tygři Liberec, he led the team’s defensemen with eight goals, 16 assists and 24 points. He was the only junior-aged (U20) defenseman in the entire league to record more than one point this season, and he paced all junior-aged skaters in assists and points.

Galvas is eligible to play in the AHL right away, but could return to Europe for another season. His immediate playing future could be elucidated at Pittsburgh’s upcoming Development Camp next week.

PIERCE MBUYI (LW) – 86TH OVERALL

In the third round, Pittsburgh pounced on a lunchpail-type grinder with scoring touch in Pierce Mbuyi.

Mbuyi never takes a shift off. And he attacks opponents on every one of those shifts. He forechecks like a honey badger and doesn’t pass up many opportunities to finish a hit.

It’s at this point in Mbuyi’s scouting report that you come across his vitals: 5-foot-10, 160 lbs. But what hey don’t measure at the combine is heart. Mbuyi’s intensity bursts out of his small-ish frame, and there has never been a player “too big” for Mbuyi to challenge. On a similar note, what the combine does measure is strength. Mbuyi crushed it in several of the strength-based tests. He recorded the top score in the  isokinetic squat and the second-best bench press. He also did 14 pull-ups, tying him for sixth at the NHL Scouting Combine.

So he’s sneaky strong and refused to quit, but Mbuyi also has carved himself a niche as somewhat of a power-play specialist. At 17-years-old, he led the league with 19 power-play goals. A cannonading one-timer created many of those goals, but he’s also chipped in with rebound deposits and snappers from the hashmarks for those man-advantage markers.

By season’s end, Mbuyi topped his team, the Owen Sound Attack, in goals (32), assists (43) and points (75). He was also named OHL Rookie of the Year for the 2024-25 campaign.

Mbuyi is currently slated to join Penn State University in the fall.

PARKER VON RICHTER (D) – 111TH OVERALL

Once again, Pittsburgh took a defenseman who had been passed over in his previous two years of eligibility. But this time, they traded up to make it happen.

The Penguins shuffled picks with the Boston Bruins so that Pittsburgh could add right-handed blueliner Parker Von Richter.

Von Richter is coming off of a breakout season that saw him log a ton of minutes for the Barrie Colts on their way to the OHL Final. He started the season with the Brampton Steelheads and was already on a career-best pace before a mid-season deal shipped him to the contending Colts. His combined numbers between the two clubs saw him log 12 goals and 37 assists for 49 points.

Von Richter stands at 6-foot-1, weighs 185 lbs. and plays confidently in all three zones. He’s responsible in his own end and isn’t afraid to throw his weight around. In fact, he really takes pride in shoving attackers away from his net-front. Over time, Von Richter has become more reliable when it comes to handling the puck, and that led to his boon in offensive production this year.

He turned 20 shortly after Barrie’s lengthy playoff run came to an end, and he will attend the University of New Hampshire this fall. Von Richter also spent three seasons as a teammate of current Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defenseman Finn Harding on the Steelheads.

MATVEI NIKONOVICH (G) – 160TH OVERALL

Pittsburgh made another trade to add one more pick to its portfolio this year. After executing that deal with the Nashville Predators, the Penguins were quick to snatch up Belarusian goaltender Matvei Nikonovich.

The trend in recent years has been teams prioritizing skyscraper-like goalies. This is not Nikonovich. But at 6-foot-2, he does well at the things a “smaller” goalie has to do in order to succeed. He moves gracefully from side-to-side, and is precise with his angles.

Nikonovich put up eye-popping numbers this year in the MHL, Russia’s top junior league. He earned a 1.96 goals against average, a .939 goals against average, two shutouts and a strong record of 20-14-4.

“He was a red-star player by (Director of Goaltending) Jon Elkin,” Penguins VP of Player Personnel Wes Clark told reporters in Pittsburgh. “He was high on [Elkin’s] board, and we knew there was a chance he’d be available late.”

Nikonovich’s next steps are somewhat murky. The team that he played for last season, Ladia Togliatti, dissolved. However, he is still under contract with their KHL parent club. Typically, Russian and Belarusian goalie prospects tend to marinate for several years in Eastern Europe before making the jump to North America (Sergei Murashov being a very notable exception,) but Nikonovich’s situation could make him a candidate to join a major junior team if were A) taken in the CHL Import Draft, and B) his KHL team doesn’t have immediate plans for him to play somewhere close to home.